Cheerleader, Opportunity Seeker, and Master Strategist: ARL Directors as Entrepreneurial Leaders

Maria Taesil Hudson Carpenter is Director of Library Services for the City of Somerville, MA and a Doctoral Student of Managerial Leadership in the Information Professions program at Simmons College; e-mail: [email protected]. The author gratefully acknowledges the comments of the journal reviewers and Judy K. Hudson. © Maria Taesil Hudson Carpenter This study explores how directors of libraries with membership in the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), who are engaged in entrepreneurial leadership, define and view it. Through structured interviews and analysis of supporting documents, it examines how entrepreneurial leadership can be used as a means for creating new organizational structures, generating income, developing information delivery and technology solutions, building new partnerships, and improving services. This study has implications for library directors and administrators, organizational development specialists, and leadership trainers.